


The Demon's Bride

by LynyrdLionheart



Series: The Heir to the Demon's Heir [2]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-01
Updated: 2015-05-01
Packaged: 2018-03-26 14:19:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3853882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LynyrdLionheart/pseuds/LynyrdLionheart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oliver left them five years ago to become Al Sa-Him.  Now his bride has fled to Starling City, where they are keeping a very large secret they'd rather the Demon's Heir not find out about.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Demon's Bride

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place 5 years after "Two Pink Lines." Still no Oliver appearance, but plenty of mentions.

Laurel glanced at the clock for what had to be the hundredth time.

                4:55.  Almost time.

                It was Thursday, and everyone in the little family they had formed knew what Thursday was ( _“Theasday!  Thursdays are Theasday!”_ ), but she knew that Thea wouldn’t mind it if she stopped by.  She never did, and today Laurel really needed something to be happy about.

                No one made her as happy as –

                There was a commotion outside her office, and Laurel bit back a curse.  Five minutes, and she would have been out of there, but now, whatever was causing the disruption would probably keep her an extra hour.  Maybe she could call Felicity, finagle a supper invitation.  She knew that she didn’t really _need_ an invite to just show up, but she wanted to make sure that tonight wasn’t one of Livie’s “experimental” nights.  No one wanted to be around for those.

                She pulled the door open, and then stared blankly into the eyes of a ghost.

                “Nyssa,” she breathed out after a long moment.  She had never expected to see the woman again, not after she had been taken by the League.  The League and…

                “Laurel,” Nyssa replied, and she smiled despite the fact that her lip was split and her right eye very nearly swollen shut.  “It has been too long.”

                “Yes,” Laurel agreed, and part of her was beyond happy to see Nyssa alive, so happy to know that she hadn’t been killed.  But the League didn’t suffer traitors, and if Nyssa was here…

                _Livie_.  Starling City had its own secrets to hide, and if Nyssa was here, then they needed to get Livie away, ASAP. 

                “You are not happy I am here,” Nyssa noted, with a gaze that saw far too much, and Laurel swallowed and pasted a smile onto her face.

                “I am,” she said, and she really did mean it, though happiness warred with worry over a gap toothed grin and blue eyes… blue eyes so like Livie’s father’s, that Laurel sometimes wanted to cry when she looked at them.  “I just.  It’s been a long day.  We’ll take a walk, and I’ll tell you about it.”

                “And I will tell you why I am here.  I need your assistance, Laurel.  And that of Miss Smoak, if you can convince her to help me” – Nyssa stepped back to allow Laurel to move past her and lock up her office – “perhaps we could speak over black and white milkshakes?”

                “Of course,” Laurel replied, and her smile became more genuine, with the remembrance of one of the few times she had seen the other woman genuinely happy.  Five years, and she could still so easily remember how… _light_ Nyssa had seemed, until she heard about Oliver and everything went to hell.  “Just let me text the others, let them know that I’ll be a little late tonight.”

                “Yes, John Diggle and… Thea Queen.  I heard the three of you had taken over justice in the place of Al Sah-Him.”

                Laurel winced at Oliver’s League name – the man that could so easily hurt the people he had once loved so dearly.  Five years gone, and his memory still haunted them all, compounded by the clear blue eyes in the face of a girl they all adored.

                A girl Laurel would do anything, even kill Nyssa if necessary, to protect.

                _Alpha protocol in effect._

She typed out the words, a code for a plan she and Diggle had come up with, when they’d seen Felicity holding the baby Olivia and known that they had to keep her safe from the reality of her father had become at any cost.  It took just fifteen seconds for a reply to come after she hit send.

                _Consider them ghosted._

Laurel let out a little sigh of relief and closed her eyes briefly before smiling once more and joining Nyssa where she stood just down the hall.

                “Let’s get those milkshakes.”

                She would hear the other woman out, and then hope that whatever she had hoped for Felicity’s aid with, she could do just as easily.

ARROW

                “I’m not going.”

                Diggle bit back a curse and paused in shoving clothes into a duffel for Felicity to stare the blonde down.  She looked back defiantly, just as she so often had with Oliver or Malcolm or anyone else that had tried to speak down to her in the Arrow Cave.

                She was a little older, her eyes a little more jaded, but it was the same damn look.

                “Felicity, think about it.  Laurel and I came up with this plan for a reason.  It’s for Livie’s safety.”

                “I know, John.  And I love you for that, and I will never be able to thank you enough for thinking of it, or Lyla for being willing to protect my daughter.  But I won’t go with them.”

                Diggle slammed the bag onto the bed and rounded on her, panic flaring in him.  He hadn’t forgotten the look in Oliver’s eyes, when he’d stood above him with a sword.  All that Diggle had seen in him was Al Sah-Him, the Demon’s Heir.  There had been nothing of the man Diggle had called brother, and he was terrified of what the man Oliver had become would do if he discovered that he had a daughter.  Would he take Olivia away?  What would Ra’s have him do?

                Diggle didn’t know, so all he could do was make sure they never had to find out.

                “Felicity, _please-_ ”

                “John, we don’t know what’s happened, first of all.  All you got was Laurel’s text saying that Livie needs to ghost.  And I’ll believe that.  But what if my being gone makes it more suspicious?  As long as I’m here, he has no reason to look into what I’ve been up to for five days.  No reason to know I even have a daughter.  But if I’m gone?”

                Diggle really did curse this time, because Felicity had a point. Of course she had a point; she wouldn’t be willing to let Olivia leave the city with anyone, even Lyla, without a damn good reason.

                “I’ll stay, just like I would have five years ago when I had nothing to lose.  And Lyla will take both of our hearts with her to Central City where she and Barry and the rest of his team can keep them safe.  And if something happens, and they do find out… well, League assassins or not, I still put my money on Killer Frost wiping them all out.”

                Diggle let out a chuckle at the reminder of what Caitlyn Snow, alias Killer Frost, was capable of.  It had been a long journey for her, but even The Flash would hesitate to take her on now.  They were all very happy she had found her way back to the side of good after all her struggles, because she had been one hell of an enemy to have.

                “Fine,” Diggle kissed Feliicty’s forehead and she hugged him.  “Fine.  Lyla will take Liv and Sara to safety.  But Felicity, you need to stay safe too, okay?  Your daughter needs her mommy.”

                “Don’t worry” – Felicity’s voice was fierce, though muffled by his shirt – “I’m not going anywhere.”

ARROW

                Thea shook her head slightly at Laurel when she and Nyssa joined them in the lair.  She knew where Laurel’s surprise came from of course – there was Felicity, sitting at the terminals as though it were just another day, and Ra’s Al Ghul’s daughter hadn’t just entered their sanctum, when she should be halfway to Central City with her daughter – but they’d all become more adept at hiding their reactions, and Laurel’s was little more than a slight widening of the eyes.

                “Nyssa,” Felicity greeted calmly, turning her chair around to face her. 

                “Felicity Smoak, Class of MIT,” Nyssa greeted in return, making a small smile quirk Felicity’s lips, though it didn’t reach her eyes.  “You are not happy to see me.”

                “Can you blame me?  Whenever you show up, the League seems to follow.  And the League hasn’t exactly made friends of us.”

                Nor had they been friends of the League, Thea thought, though they’d been careful not to go up against it directly.  Not when they had Olivia to keep secret.  When Lyla had shown up at her penthouse, Livie’s _Iron Man_ bag in hand, Thea had been terrified.  Olivia was the only tie she had left to a brother that might as well be dead, and that she had to flee made Thea want to put an arrow through Nyssa herself.  When would the League just let them be?

                “I do not wish to bring the League on your head.  Which is why I wish your assistance to disappear once more, quickly.”

                “I thought you didn’t flee,” Thea said coldly, glaring at her.  Nyssa’s gaze shot to her, dark and angry, because of course an assassin had a long memory, and Thea had killed Sara.  But it had been half a decade, and it had taken Thea most of that, but she had come to terms with what she had done, and had learned that single action did not define a person, so Nyssa could shove her judgment and anger up her ass.  “I thought you would stand tall and face whatever came.”

                “I did,” Nyssa replied just as coldly, stalking towards her.  Thea refused to back down, however.  “I returned to Nanda Parbat, to what I believed would be my death, and instead I found myself the Demon’s Bride.”

                It was the words, not the dark look in her eyes or how close she had gotten that made Thea take a step back.  She felt like she might be ill… _The Demon’s Bride_.  But that mean, that meant…

                “You’re married to Oliver.”

                Felicity’s voice cut through Thea’s shock, and she pushed past Nyssa to go to the blonde’s side.  In five years, there was no one Thea had come to admire as much as Felicity, except maybe Laurel, and she found herself impressed with how calm the blonde managed to be.  There was no babbling as she would have once, or even tears at the news.  The only sign that it had caused her any distress was the way her finger nails dug into the arms of her chair.

                “Not by choice, I assure you, Miss Smoak.  But yes.  Five years ago I was wed to Al Sah-Him.  Five years and no children, and I find myself in danger of breaking” – Nyssa’s expression turned distant and haunted – “it is not something I am proud to admit, but I remember that you assisted your young friend, the Arsenal, to disappear once.”

                “Arsenal was already believed to be dead,” Felicity pointed, but she spun her chair around to begin typing on the computer.  “And he didn’t have an entire League of Assassins on his trail.  It’s not quite the same.”

                Thea rested a hand on Felicity’s shoulder, and the older woman paused and lifted her hand, to squeeze Thea’s in thanks, before returning to the keyboard.  Nyssa joined them on the other side, and Thea felt Diggle shift at her back.  A quickly look back showed her that he rested his hand on his gun, and his gaze was focused on Nyssa.  But Nyssa just watched Felicity, a contemplative expression in her gaze.

                “It was not Al Sah-Him’s choice,” she said after a moment.  “It was my father’s wish, and neither of us had any other choice.”

                _There’s always a choice_ , Thea thought darkly, watching Felicity continue to type, _but Ollie just always chooses_ wrong _._

He chose wrong when he saved her, and he chose wrong when he threatened Lyla, and stood above Dig, willing to kill him.  So why should Thea be surprised that he chose wrong and married Nyssa as well?

                “I don’t care what _Al Sah-Him_ does,” Felicity said, brining Thea’s attention, and Nyssa’s, back to her.  “If I never heard that name again, it would be too soon.  I can make you a fake identification, even put in all the information to make it stick.  But I can’t ensure that you’ll stay hidden from the League.  Once you leave here, you’re on your own.”

                “That is all I need,” Nyssas replied, and then hesitated before adding. “They know all the current identifications I use.”

                Felicity said nothing, simply hit a button and then sat still, staring at the computer.  Thea could see her expression on the screen, and it looked almost blank.

                “What’s wrong?” Laurel asked, and she and Thea exchanged alarmed looks over Felicity’s head.

                “Nothing,” Felicity replied as Diggle moved away, back to one of the machines that had begun to whirl behind them.  When he came back, he held a neat little piece of plastic – a driver’s license, that Thea was almost positive would pass the toughest of inspections.  “The documents are done.  Well, the driver’s ID.  The passport will take another day, but there’s a dropbox downtown” – she rattled off an address to Nyssa who nodded – “I’ll leave it there for you.  And then I don’t want to see you again.”

                “Of course not,” Nyssa bowed her head.  “I thank you, Miss Smoak.  And you, Laurel.  And know… know that I will tell no one of any of this. _Any_ of it.”

                Thea frowned, until she followed Nyssa’s gaze to the desk, and the tiny double framed photo there.

                Sara on one side, perfect mocha skin with Dig’s eyes and Lyla’s smile, looking every inch the cheeky little imp she was.

                And on the other side?  Olivia with her blonde curls and bright blue eyes behind dark frames ( _“Just like mama’s, Aunt Thea!”_ ) her own brilliant smile hiding her brilliant mind and a reckless streak as wide as her father’s.

                Felicity moved quicker than Thea had ever seen her, slamming the picture down.  Diggle already had his gun out pointed at Nyssa, and Laurel had her police baton at her throat.  Thea quickly grabbed her bow, notching an arrow.  But Nyssa ignored the weapons, instead focusing on Felicity.

                “If Al Sah-Him finds out, he will have no choice but to tell my father.  And once the Demon knows, he will demand that the Heir’s heir is brought to Nanda Parbat.”

                “ _Al Sah-Him_ can never find out then, can he?” Felicity demanded softly, pushing aside Diggle’s gun so she could stand face to face with Nyssa.  Nyssa looked at her, eyes searching for _something_ , though Thea couldn’t guess what.  At length, she bowed her head slightly.

                “No, he cannot.  The League should follow me, leaving you safe.”

                Felicity stared her down for a another second, before nodding at Laurel, who removed the baton.  Thea was slower to respond to the call to put down her weapon, and it took Felicity stepping up to her, carefully lowering the bow.

                “If we kill her, then her trail ends here, and the League will ask questions we don’t want to have to answer.”

                That made Thea drop her bow, acknowledging the truth of it.  But she glared at Nyssa, who still ignored her to look at Felicity. 

                “Go,” was all Felicity said, keeping her own gaze on Thea.

                Nyssa did as she was bade, pausing only next to Laurel, murmuring something that Thea couldn’t hear, but that made Laurel close her eyes, as though against memories, and nod her head.  She didn’t pause again until she reached the exit.

                “Your daughter is beautiful, Felicity Smoak.  I truly wish the both of you well.”


End file.
